“Too many immigrants?”

Unpacking the contribution of international migration to population growth in New Zealand in the second decade of the 21st century

Tuesday 31 January 2017 at 7.30pm

Holt’s Planetarium, NBHS, Chambers Street, Napier

Richard BedfordEmeritus Professor, University of Waikato and
Auckland University of Technology
President, Royal Society of New Zealand

Professor Bedford writes: On 19 October 2016, Statistics New Zealand released a new series of National Population Projections through to 2068. These projections are the first ever produced by Statistics New Zealand that I can recall in 45 years of population research that include a “high” scenario of over 7 million people in the country by the late 2060s. They are also the first for a long time to make reference to reaching a population of 5 million by the early 2020s.

In this presentation I will examine the recent net migration gains and their impact on estimated population growth. I will also comment on the recent changes to New Zealand’s residence policy and some possible implications these might have for both net migration gains as well as the contribution that international migration makes to overall population growth. In the final section of the presentation I will examine more closely projections for the population of the Hawke’s Bay and the impacts that international migration is having on the numbers of temporary as well as long-term residents.